The Influence of Genes on Addiction

An article from the University of Utah Health Sciences Department, Genes and Addiction, discusses the role that genetics play on substance addiction. Genes are responsible for making an individual more vulnerable to substance dependence.  Research performed on laboratory mice has been helpful to determine the effects of similar traits in humans. When a certain gene was found to play a role in addiction in mice, the counterpart sequence of DNA was examined in humans.

I agree with the article that an individual’s environment is a much larger factor to addiction than genetics. If inheritance causes an individual to have higher withdrawal symptoms for a substance, but their environment does not put them in a position to experiment with this substance, then the genes would have no visible effect to the individual. However, if an addict has a genetic predisposition to have harsher withdrawal symptoms, than genetics could aid in the individual remaining addicted to the abused drug.

A goal of studying the genetic basis of addiction is to improve treatment for addicts. Identifying gene sequences that play a role in addiction allows scientists to develop drugs that are more effective in controlling this gene. This can begin a new wave of treatment, with drugs tailored specifically to your genetic make-up.

Gene Signatures of Yeast May Help Predict Reactions to Medications

This short article discusses research conducted by the University of British Columbia that explored effects of different drugs on many different strains of yeast. It is not a little known fact that any given drug could affect different people in different ways. Anything from blood pressure medication to an anti-depressant to an illicit drug can be experienced differently and cause a plethora of different side effects. In fact, it's not unusual for someone who is looking for relief from some kind of ailment to have to try several different drugs before they find one that allows them to get the desired effects they need without too many negative side effects. This is especially true of psychiatric drugs- for example, an anti-depressant that helps one person feel better, focus, and have more energy may make another person foggy, more miserable, and unable to get out of bed. This experiment involved taking 6000 different strains of yeast and testing their reactions to 5000 different drugs. The results showed that there were around 50 different ways that each strain might react to a different drug. Each of these reactions represents a different gene signature. Because 50 is a relatively small number compared to 6000 different yeast strains, associate professor Guri Giaever believes that this research not only indicates that we will one day be able to use someone's gene signature to predict how they will react to different drugs, eliminating the need to bounce between medicines before finding one that works for them, but also may provide the first steps to mapping possible reactions. The information gathered in this experiment may also prove useful to future cancer research.

(Secondary article: http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v1/n1/full/nrd705.html )

Genes Can Predict the Relapse After Chemotherapy

This research, found in an article from ScienceDaily , was done in an attempt to see the linkage between genes and being able to predict how well chemotherapy would work on a given patient. The data from the researchers from the National Taiwan Universsity College of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute were used. Sixty human cancer cells and their pattern of activation were tested to see their response to 99 different anti-cancer drugs. Out of all those, eight genes were found to be involved in invasion and had a correlation in the relative activation and chemotherapy outcome. The five drugs that had the most impact were paclitaxel, docetaxel, erlotinib, everolimus, and dasatinib.

The research indicated that patients with lung and breast cancer who were plaved in the low-risk group, based on their genes, spent a longer time being relapse free. Professor Pan-Chyr Yang believes that this discovery is crucial to improving cancer treatment in patients. It also would be beneficial in individualizing cancer treatments, and can hopefully one day be applied to other forms of cancer other than lung and breast.

I believe that personalized chemotherapy can be a great new way to treat cancer. Cancer is not the same in every person and it only makes sense if they are all treated differently. Choosing a personalized chemotherapy does come with it's costs, and it might not be affordable to all, as is explained in the following article. I do also worry about the financial and time consuming aspects of the research itself, however I suspect it will all be worth it.